Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly dies at 92Posted: 2016-09-05 Arizona Freedom Alliance 9-5-16 The First Lady of Conservatism! RIP, Grand Lady. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ST. LOUIS — Phyllis Schlafly, the outspoken conservative activist who helped defeat the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and founded the Eagle Forum political group, has died. She was 92. Schlafly died Monday afternoon of cancer at her home in St. Louis, her son John Schlafly said. Schlafly rose to national attention in 1964 with her self-published book, "A Choice Not an Echo," that became a manifesto for the far right. The book, which sold three million copies, chronicled the history of the Republican National Convention and is credited for helping conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater of Arizona earn the 1964 GOP nomination. She later helped lead efforts to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment that would have outlawed gender discrimination, galvanizing the party's right. She'd graduated from college while working overnight at a factory during World War II, her newspaper column appeared in dozens of newspapers and she was politically active into her 90s - including attending every convention since her first in 1952. Yet she told The Associated Press in 2007 that perhaps her greatest legacy was the Eagle Forum, which she founded in 1972 in suburban St. Louis, where she lived. The ultraconservative group has chapters in several states and claims 80,000 members. "I've taught literally millions of people how to participate in self-government," Schlafly said. "I think I've built a wonderful organization of volunteers, mostly women but some men, willing to spend their time to get good laws and good politicians." The Eagle Forum pushes for low taxes, a strong military and English-only education. The group is against efforts it says are pushed by radical feminists or encroach on U.S. sovereignty, such as guest-worker visas, according to its website, which describes the Equal Rights Amendment as having had a "hidden agenda of tax-funded abortions and same-sex marriages." As momentum grew in the 1970s for the amendment, Schlafly became its most outspoken critic - and was vilified by its supporters. She had a pie smashed into her face and pig's blood thrown on her, and feminist Betty Friedan once told Schlafly: "I'd like to burn you at the stake." She was chastised in a 1970s "Doonesbury" - a framed copy of which hung on her office wall. "What I am defending is the real rights of women," Schlafly said at the time. "A woman should have the right to be in the home as a wife and mother." Thirty-five states ratified the amendment, three short of the necessary 38. Schlafly said amendment supporters couldn't prove it was needed. "They were never able to show women would get any benefit out of it," she told the AP in 2007. "It (the U.S. Constitution) is already sex-neutral. Women already have all the rights that men have." Saint Louis University history professor Donald Critchlow, who profiled Schlafly in his 2005 book, "Phyllis Schlafly and Grassroots Conservatism: A Woman's Crusade," said the defeat of the amendment helped revive conservatism and helped pave the way for Ronald Reagan's election in 1980. "What the ERA (defeat) did was show the right, and especially Reagan strategists, that a new constituency could be tapped to revitalize the right. It allowed the right to take over the party," Critchlow told the AP shortly after his book was written. Schlafly was born Aug. 15, 1924, and grew up in Depression-era St. Louis. Her parents were Republican but not politically involved. More on Politico DONALD J. TRUMP STATEMENT ON PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY"Phyllis Schlafly is a conservative icon who led millions to action, reshaped the conservative movement, and fearlessly battled globalism and the 'kingmakers' on behalf of America's workers and families. I was honored to spend time with her during this campaign as she waged one more great battle for national sovereignty. I was able to speak with her by phone only a few weeks ago, and she sounded as resilient as ever. Our deepest prayers go out to her family and all her loved ones. She was a patriot, a champion for women, and a symbol of strength. She fought every day right to the end for America First. Her legacy will live on in the movement she led and the millions she inspired." - Donald J. Trump
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
If you would like to get the latest news from EVNN, |
Catching the News that others let get away... |